Foundation garment



April 24, 1956 DOWD 2,742,643

FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed July 27, 1954 United States PatentO FOUNDATION GARMENT Bernard John Don, Fimkiy, Victoria, Australia s Application July 27,1954, Serial No. 446,061 Claims priority, application Australia December 16, 1953 l 4 Claims. 01. 2-37 This invention relates to an improved foundation, gar-' ment which may comprise a corset, corselette, girdle or the like and is of the type having tubular body com posed of elastic fabric material which whenworn conforms with the body shape and ,yieldably supportsthe trunk and abdominal region of a wearer.

According to established practice tubular garments of the type specified, are manufacturedrfrom conventional two-way stretch elastic fabric material, i. e, a fabric having responsive to a given degree of tension a greater stretch in the length than in the width of the material, which is so disposed asto' impart to a garment a principal stretch in width and a considerably less or reduced stretch in the depth.

In foundation garments of'the type specified and manufactured of such material, reinforcing'panels have been provided for abdominal control and figure correction of a wearer.

Tubular foundation garments have been constructed of single strips or lengths of two-way stretch material, the ends of which have been overlapped to provide reinforcing panels, but garments having such panels, while providing abdominal support restricted normal free thigh and leg movement.

' Now the principal objective of this invention is to provide a tubular foundation garment manufactured "from a single strip or length of two-way stretch material, which provides a flattening efiect of the upper region of the stomach or abdomen, creates a supporting lift for the lower abdomen while supplementing normal muscular control, providing complete freedom of thigh and leg movement, and furthermore eliminating any binding of the lower hem of the garment and resultant restriction around the thighs of the wearer.

In achieving the above stated principal objective and according to the invention, a foundation garment comprises a single piece or blank of elastic fabric material having the ends so shaped and overlapped and stitched together as to form a tubular body and having a central panel of double thickness at the front of the garment and a pair of separated overlapped body sections of single thickness disposed below the central panel, the lower edges of the separated body sections extending transversely in sloping crossed arrangement downwardly to wards the sides of the garment, and the courses of the elastic yarn being oppositely inclined in the central panel and in the separated body sections.

The central front panel supports the upper region of e the abdomen, while the separated. body sections have a supporting lift for the lower abdomen and supplement normal muscular control. Moreover, the separation of the body sections and the sloping crossed arrangement of the lower edges thereof permit freedom of the thigh and leg movement.

The invention will be better understood from the description of the exemplary foundation garment depicted in the accompanying drawings.

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In these drawings: a

Fig. l is a front elevation of the exemplary foundation garment. a

Fig. 2 illustrates a material blankto comprise the body of the foundation garment. v

' Fig. 3 is a front elevation view of the unstitched body of the garment formed by bringing together and overlappingthe ends of the blank.

Referring to these drawings in more detail and in the first instance more particularly to Fig. 2, the numeral 5 designates generally a blank shown flatly and cut from twoway stretch material to comprise the, body 6 of the garment, 7

. The blank 5 is of required width and length and is so cut from the material that the elastic courses of the latter are disposed longitudinally in the blank, which accordingly has a greater stretch in the length than in the width for the same degree of tension.

7 The upper edge 7 of the blank 5 is slightly concave as shown, while the lower edge 8 has a major slightly convex medial portion 9 whichat each endis upwardly curved and continued to comprise upward inclined curved parts 10 extending to the ends of the blank.

Each end of the blank 5 has a'pair of upper and lower angular portions, indicated respectively by '11 and 12, the upper portions 11 being formed by cutting the ends .of the blank on a downward inclination as at 13-13a for a required distance to a point comprising the apicesv 14 of the upper portions 11:and cutting the ends of the blank inwardly and substantially at right an-' 'gles to the downwardly inclined edge parts 13-1312 for a required distance from the apices 14 to form inwardly inclined edge parts 15-1511. 1

The lower angular portions 12 of the blank ends are formed by cutting the blank on lines inclined at a rerequired angle to said inwardly inclined edge parts 15-15:: at the inner end 16 of the latter to form outing over the end 20 shown by broken lines.

Upon being thus disposed, the edge parts 13 and 15 are stitched to the underlying material and the edge parts 13a and 15a to the overlying material.

The, lines of stitching of the edge parts 15 and 15a are extended as indicated at 21 from the inner ends or re-entrant angular points 16 to intersectat a point 22 positioned centrally at the front of the garment, see Fig. 1.

In this manner there is formed an upper central panel 23 of double thickness and substantially diamond shape at the front of the garment,in which the elastic courses of the material in the inner and outer portions or thicknesses of the panel are oppositely inclined so as to exert an inward pressure and upwardly directed pull upon a wearers abdominal region for figure correction.

The edge parts 17 and 17a are stitched respectively to the underlying and overlying material between the angular points 16 and 18, and the lines of stitching are extended as indicated by 24 to the lower edge 8 but only through a single thickness of material. The lines of stitching thus extending between the angular points 16 and the lower edge 8 are reinforced at the innerside of the garment by strips 25 for suspender support.

The lower portions of material 26 and 27 extending Patented Apr. 24, 1956" between the panel 23 and the lower edge 8 and bounded by the stitchings 21 andthe stitchings between the points 16 and the edge 8, are free and open and permit normal thigh and hip movements.

These lower portions 26 and 27 comprise separated outer and inner pentagonal body sections of single thickness in which the elastic courses of the fabric material are relatively inclined in opposite directions to have a supporting lift for the lower abdominal region as well as supplementing normal muscular control.

The upper and lower edges 7 and 8 are reinforced with strips 28 and 29 of elastic webbing and suspenders 30 and 31 for hosiery support are attached to the webbing strip 29, the suspenders 30 being positioned at the front of the garment in alignment with the lines of stitching extending between the points 16 and the lower edge 8 and the suspenders 31 being located at required points at the back of the garment.

I claim:

1. A foundation garment having a tubular body comprised of a single elongated blank piece of elastic fabric material formed at each end with an upper angular extension having straight edges inclined inwardly from the apex of the extension and a lower angular extension having a straight upper edge and a lower curved edge inclined inwardly and downwardly from the apex of the lower angular extension to the lower longitudinal edge of the piece of material, the formed ends of the piece of material being overlapped and stitched together, said tubular body having a central upper panel of double thickness comprised of the upper angular extensions and separate lower panels of single thickness comprised of the lower angular extensions disposed below the upper panel and having the lower edges sloping transversely outwards in crossed re lation downwardly to the sides of the body and comthe formed ends of the blank being overlapped and stitched together, said tubular body having a central upper panel of double thickness comprised of the upper reduced extensions and'separate panels of single thickness comprised of the lower reduced extensions disposed below the upper panel and havingthe lower edges sloping transversely outwards in crossed relation and comprised of the lower curved edges of the lower reduced extensions which by overlapping of the ends are reversed to slope downwardly and outwardly to the sides of the tubular body.

2. A foundation garment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the central upper'panel is of' substantially diamond shape and the separate lower panels are of pentagonal configuration.

4. A foundation garment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the blank is constructed of two-way stretch material with the elastic courses disposed longitudinally, and said elastic courses-when-the blank is formed into the tubular body extend circumferentially about the latter and are oppositely inclined in the upper central panel and in the separate lower panels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,321,134 Smith Nov. 11, 1919 r 2,445,322 Fridolph July 20, 1948 2,519,602 Rago Aug. 22, 1950 2,610,324 Dowd Sept. 16, 1952 

